


Speak Now

by ShipersAnonymous



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen & Iris West Friendship, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fanfiction, Fluff, Iris West Loves Barry Allen, Romance, Slow Burn, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:20:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22336915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShipersAnonymous/pseuds/ShipersAnonymous
Summary: Every love story has a soundtrack.This is hers...
Relationships: Barry Allen & Patty Spivot, Barry Allen/Iris West
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Speak Now

**Author's Note:**

> GREETINGS SHIPPERS!
> 
> It's been one, ship-tastic, tear shedding, aww enducing, punch worthy, smile brightening, love loving year!
> 
> And I couldn't have done it all without you! So heres a fic inspired by three different works (two literarure and one music) to say thank you and I love you!
> 
> This fic is gonna feature a few song lyrics in each chapter that speak to the content of each chapter so who knows maybe by the end of this you'll have a sweet new playlist!
> 
> So Speak Now is inspired by the lyrics of the Taylor Swift song and album of the same name, as well as by the Fated series of books by Hazel Kelly and the Cinder & Ella books by Kelly Oram.
> 
> Ofcourse, as always I'm adding my own twist to them all and I sure hope you all like it!
> 
> I've said this before but I can't say it enough: Thank you so much for the best year a ship addict could ask for!  
> Each and everyone of you that's read, liked and commented have given me the motivation and inspiration I need to create each and every story I've typed out so far.
> 
> I want to give a special thanks to my Kink Queens (one of them being @wearetheflash) for pushing me to start posting in the first place. They were my first fan fic readers and if it weren't for them constantly telling me to post we might not have been celebrating this milestone. 
> 
> I'll be honest, I wasn't the most confident writer and to this day I still get butterflies in my stomach every time I have to post a chapter but through your continued support I've grown within my craft and fallen even more in love with writting. But I wouldn't have gotten this far without the support of these two angels. 
> 
> You've all opened my eyes and allowed me to spread my wings, now I ask that you stay with me as I learn how to fly. 
> 
> It's not my ship, it's our ship. Our crew. Our family. So here's to another great year, a few more storms, some new crew members and alot more love. 
> 
> Happy ship-a-versary shippers!
> 
> I love you all. 
> 
> XOXO  
> A. J. (aka) Rosario

* * *

[Iris] 

_I am not the kind of girl, who should be rudely bargin’ in on a white veil occasion but you are not the kind of boy who should be marryin’ the wrong girl._

I know that at weddings the bride normally steals the show but I can’t bring myself to peel my eyes away from him. He looks so handsome and the little smile painted on his lips makes my heart race like it’s always done for the past 16 years. But it doesn’t reach his eyes and that’s my first sign. He doesn’t want this. I’m the one that should be up there with him. I’m the one he should be exchanging vows with. I’m too nervous to hear every word he say’s but I can somehow feel every single one. Like he wrote them with me in mind. The guests laugh at something he says and he looks around with that goofy expression only he can make.

For a second, his eyes find mine in the crowd and in them, I see the flash of uncertainty that no one else will be able to register.

Because no one else knows him as well as I do.

Butterflies flit about in my stomach as my determination seals itself within me. Even if this is just my wishful thinking, even if I’m miss reading all the signs, I have to at least try.

_I hear the preacher say “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”_

That’s my cue. It’s now or never.

_There’s a silence, there’s my last chance I stand up with shaking hands, all eyes on me._

Whispered gasps echo throughout the cathedral as I try to focus my attention on not letting my shaky knees give in.

“Iris?” he calls out and right now I’m about nervous enough not to be able to tell if the emotion dancing in his voice is hope or confusion. I look up at him and suddenly my mind goes blank. My heart stops as my eyes lock on to his and every bit of emotion I’ve ever felt for him is sucked out of me at once by his baring gaze. I swallow, unable to speak so I start to sing.

“I am not the kind of girl, who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion but you are not the kind of boy, who should be marrying the wrong girl.”

* * *

[9 months earlier] - [Barry] 

> _“Flash,” she breathes as he takes a step close towards her. Annie closes her eyes as she feels the warmth radiate from his body and wrap her in a lust charged hug from behind. His fingers graze the skin of her arm, the leathery texture of his suit leaving goose bumps behind as he trails his hand up her arm and past her shoulder to her neck. He gingerly moves her hair out of the way and then traces her delicate jawline. With his fingers on her chin he turns her head up towards him and she opens her eyes briefly to look up at him._
> 
> _The light shining behind him conceals his face in shadow, sadly forbidding her from seeing his eyes._
> 
> _“Who are you?” she dares to ask, his face so close to hers that she hears the shaky breath he takes in. With a heavy heart he replies:_
> 
> _“It’s safer for you if you don’t know,”_
> 
> _“Plea-”_
> 
> _He steals away her plea by pressing his lips to hers. She gasps startled but the sound escapes her in the form of a moan. The kiss ends and he leaves her with a peck before she feels the air around her swirl. When she opens her eyes again, he’s gone._  
>  …

“Hey what are you guy’s doing?” I ask as I grab a towel that hangs on one of the rails. We’re in the speed lab and Cisco and Caitlin are staring at one of the computer screens with enough intensity to have me wondering if there’s something wrong with me.

“Shh, not now Barry. MrsFlash1903 just updated _Racing Hearts_.” Cisco answers before taking a bite of his liquorice stick, his eyes never leaving the screen. I roll my eyes although a cocky smile spreads over my lips.  
A few months ago one of Cisco’s younger cousins brought to his attention that the Flash had garnered a bit of a fan base and that some fans were writing what’s called fan fiction about me. We both laughed it off when we first found out finding it amusing and (in my case) extremely flattering. But, in what felt like the blink of an eye, he’d found a writer (MrsFlash1903) who had him hooked.

“I swear it’s like she knows you man, the stories are so realistic and the way she puts it all down. I feel like a fly on the wall living through every seen.” He’d once told me and judging by the concentration both he and Caitlin were currently demonstrating I don’t doubt his words. I grab the water bottle that I set on the floor when we started and take its place on the step, taking a swig of water as I wait for them to finish.

Caitlin joined in on the madness after Cisco’s attempt at multi-tasking messed with one of her routine tests. She wanted to know what could have been more important than blood and urine samples and now she’s just as obsessed. I stretch my arm back, plant my free hand on the floor and get comfortable. After a few days of their binging, I know better than to interrupt.

“No!” Caitlin shouts suddenly, and I jump up startled. In my fright I squeeze the poor, unsuspecting bottle and its contents splatter my shirt making it cling to me even more.

“She _cannot_ leave us like this!” She exclaims frustrated.

“Let me guess, another open ending?” I tease, throwing the towel over my shoulder so that it hangs half down my back with the other half still in my hand.

“It’s called a _cliffhanger_ Barry, and you would know that if you bothered to read the recommendations I sent you.” Cisco said, pointing an accusatory (albeit limp) piece of candy at me.

“Sorry man, too busy saving the world and all and before you counter my excuse, are we about done here? It’s date night.”

Caitlin returns her focus on to the screens but this time her fingers glide purposefully over the key pad which means she’s probably checking my results.

“Yep, you’re fit as a fiddle and good to go.” She responds after a minute.

“Fit as a fiddle? Is that even a thing anymore?” Cisco asks and she offers him a pointed look.

“Really Cisco? You’re going to question my lines when half your vocabulary comes from scripts?” She counters.

“She has a fair point.” I laugh, adding fuel to their usual friendly quarrel.

“Didn’t you have a date tonight Mr I-don’t-read-fanfiction?” he asks and I laugh as I get ready to run.

“I don’t have to, my life is all the fiction I need.” I answer with a cocky grin and speed away as Cisco mumbles something, to the effects of “as if”, under his breath. Five minutes later and I’m sliding to a stop at Joe’s. I spot Iris’s car outside so speeding into the house is a definite no. No matter how much I wanna tell her, Joe’s right. She’s safer in the dark.

“I’m home!” I announce as I walk in and am surprised to find the place practically empty.

“That’s weird,” I mumble to myself before a muffled sound from upstairs catches my attention. I make my way up slowly, my senses on high alert for anything out of the ordinary but I breathe out a sigh of relief as soon as I open my bedroom door and find the source of the noise.

Iris is lying sound asleep on my bed, her laptop is beside her (probably dead) and she’s snoring softly. I smile and soundlessly make my way up to her. Careful, so as not to wake her, I pluck her specks from her face and place them on the side table. The action comes naturally to me, perfected after one too many nights we spent up together in our youth.

She always fell asleep first.

Nostalgia is suddenly tainted by a hint of guilt as I think about the secret I’m keeping from her.

She’s my best friend and she’s been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. She’s been there through the hardest, happiest and the most embarrassing of times so having to keep something so astronomically life changing from her feels weird. But it’s for the best so I’ll just have to make my peace with it. I just hope that when she finds out, when I finally tell her, that she’ll forgive me.

I can’t afford to lose anymore family.

“Sweet dreams Annie,” I whisper with a heavy heart then plant a quick kiss on her forehead before I pick out my outfit and just as quietly, creep out of the room. As soon as the door closes behind me I race to the bathroom and get myself ready in record time. Despite that, I’m still late.

  
_She’s gonna kill me._ I think as I speed over to the restaurant.

* * *

[Iris]

My body’s still tingling from his proximity when I hear the front door open and close. I breathe out the breath I had no idea I’d been holding and reach for my glasses on the nightstand.

_“Sweet dreams, Annie.”_

I smile as I remember the nick name he gave me when we were kids. He used to call me that to tease me after I got cast as Annie in the school play during our fourth year. I had to wear this horrible red wig that looked like it belonged on a clown and after our first dress rehearsal he started calling me _fire truck Annie_. In time the “fire truck” fell away and Annie became like a loving nickname.

Most people think that it’s because my middle name is Ann but Barry, my dad and I know the truth. Taking advantage of the quiet moment I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. The pillow smells like him. His choice in fragrance products has changed with his age but I can always recognise that subtle scent that I’ve come to associate with him.

I think about the forehead kiss and my heart does a flip.

_Get a grip Iris, it’s not like he kissed you, kissed you._

I scold myself, shaking out of the one second fantasy I have playing in my head. The one that sees him secretly confessing his love for me before he leans in and presses his lips to mine.

Fantasy.

That’s all it will ever be. He doesn’t see me that way, never has and never will. For a long time during our adolescence I fooled myself into thinking that maybe he did. Maybe someday we had a chance of being more than just friends. Then I almost lost him. In fact for the longest nine months of my life I wondered around lost. I cursed myself everyday for not having told him the truth and my heart broke a little each time I thought that he might not make it. That I’d missed my chance of being with him because I was too scared.  
I’d made up my mind then.  
I promised my self that as soon as he woke up I’d tell him. I’d lay it all out on the table, hand him my heart on a silver platter – consequences be damned!

But when he came to see me the first time after he woke up, I looked into his eyes and my strength evaporated. He looked at me the exact same way he had been for the past seventeen years.

With a love reserved for a little sister.

And just like that I had my answer. A tear slips my eye as I recall his sweet gaze and I pull my specs away enough to swipe it away with my finger. With all these emotions coursing through me I reach for my laptop (mentally high fiving myself for switching it off before he came in) and power it up. Barry might be off-limits but I always have the _Flash_ to exhaust my obsessive energy. Who ever he may be.

Thankfully, the device auto saved the last file I was working on, so I open it up and let my frustrations out on the keyboard:

> _Annie was frustrated. It confused her how someone could be so close, so within reach and yet still feel miles away._

**Author's Note:**

> P. S. Apologies for the late updates I caught a bit of a cold and writing with a headache is a recipe for bad chapters. Only reason why I have this one done is cause I've typed it out a little while back 😂❤️
> 
> Also I'm not really sure if MrsFlash1903 is actually an existing account if it is apologies 🙏🏾 
> 
> I promise this is the last new fic I'm uploading till I finish atleast one of the others that are on going 😂❤️ 
> 
> 😘😘😘😘


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